Yoane Wissa marked his first Champions League start with his first goal as Newcastle ensured a play-off berth at worst with a comprehensive 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven.
Wissa, Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes all pounced on errors from the runaway Eredivisie leaders to ease their side to a victory which leaves them seventh in the table ahead of next week’s visit to holders Paris St Germain.
It was far from a classic on a wintry Tyneside night, but Eddie Howe’s men did what they needed to do in front of a delighted crowd of 52,076 to all but secure a top-16 finish and give themselves a chance of automatic qualification, while leaving PSV looking over their shoulder with Bayern Munich to come.
The visitors, who arrived having lost just one of their last 21 games in all competitions, enjoyed the brighter start, but it was the Magpies who mustered the first attempt on goal, Gordon blasting over from a tight angle after Joelinton had helped on Kieran Trippier’s fifth-minute cross, and they who took the lead three minutes later.
PSV goalkeeper Matej Kovar’s scuffed clearance was picked off by Bruno Guimaraes and he fed Joelinton, who squared unselfishly for Yoane to steer a shot past Kovar, although the striker faced an anxious wait after referee Daniel Siebert was sent to the screen to check a potential offside before awarding the goal.
Undaunted, the Dutchmen continued to take the game to the hosts, whose inability to retain possession – skipper Guimaraes was repeatedly the culprit – in the face of a determined press added to the pressure.
Sven Botman stubbed an ambitious volley well wide after he and central defensive partner Malick Thiaw had recycled a Trippier free-kick, but as an increasingly-ragged affair rumbled along, the Magpies increased their lead on the half-hour, again with a helping hand.
Yarek Gasiorowski, whose back-pass had led to the opening goal, was caught in possession by Wissa, whose intervention sent the ball into Gordon’s path and he slid home his sixth goal of this season’s competition.
Still Newcastle were unable to exercise any measure of control as they continued to surrender possession needlessly, although they were grateful that all Eindhoven’s endeavour yielded little in terms of opportunities until Paul Wanner finally called upon Nick Pope deep into stoppage-time.
The pattern of the first half was repeated after the restart with the visitors dominating possession – but getting nowhere fast – and the hosts happy to sit deep and hit on the counter, although Gordon and Wissa both failed to put Barnes in on goal after carving paths through the PSV defence.
However, the former Leicester man was not to be denied and when PSV skipper Jerdy Schouten could only help Pope’s 65th-minute clearance towards his own goal, Barnes ran on to the ball at pace and fired emphatically past the stranded Kovar for his 12th of the season.
Wissa only just failed to make the requited contact with Barnes’ cross and Nick Woltemade headed fellow substitute Anthony Elanga’s cross straight at the keeper as time ran down with Howe’s men looking more likely to add to their tally than to concede.
